I noticed a little difference in mine when I installed it. Most noticable was that it seemed to stop most of my dash rattles.

 

Mine seems to work. I can control the front end alot better. Still have trouble with the rear though.

 

I have one stock. Stock it has that, upgraded suspension, lowered 0.5" and some Michelin Pilot Primacy [very good tires] so it handles like a go-kart.

As for straight line you'd all pwn me.

 

Not to Hi-Jack but if thats your car can I ask where you got the Corvette Valve Covers? ... Sweet enginebay...

 

Um *cough cough* anybody on here would also own you in the twisties, if that's what your getting at..

 

I thought i felt a difference with mine, but very minimal. Mine is primarily for looks as well.

 

My Maxima SE 5spd and my Audi A4 6spd would have killed my A4 LT1 Z28 in the twisties. Maybe with a pro driving the Z28 would have the advantage due to it being RWD, but I'm just not skilled enough to really take advantage of RWD in turns (and most of you guys aren't either despite a lack of admission)

I guess what I'm saying is I haven't driven a Corolla XRS but I've found quite a few more seemingly mundane cars handle better and much more predictably in the corners than my Z28 did. Maybe my suspension on the Z28 was shot, but I just found it to be a rocket in a straight line and a boat in the corners (I mean, not bad, but for such a low slung 2 door single-mission car it wasn't very impressive to me w/ handling)

 

I like my STB (Strut Tower Brace). I don't think you feel the difference until you start cornering really hard. The front end just feels stiffer when cornering hard. Perhaps it's all in my head. Perhaps the real difference is just knowing you have such a large hard stiff rod under the hood.

 

It doesn't make the ride harsher - it may make it 'stiffer' but stiffer in a good way. ie: more 'unitized'. Like go ride in a new BMW 3-series... they have a very stiff, rigid chassis but it doesn't feel 'rough', just very connected to the road and solidified.

It's what so many manufacturers strive for with their chassis design in the first place - torsional (and bending) rigidity.

 

Just invest your money in some nice Sway bars and subframe connectors on a 4th gen

 

He's got it right. Having said that, I would also say that I noticed a subtle difference with the brace on my car. But if I had it tpo do over again, I'm not sure I'd spend the money. But on a 3rd gen, I'd get one for sure.

 

this is exactly it

a strut is a prominent member in controlling the camber of the wheel thus alot of loads go to the "u shaped design" and squaring it off makes it significantly stronger

a shock absorber however only has to "absorb shock" the upper control arm will take the loads that the struts would, and since the control arms are bolts to the k-member they're not gonna flex and a "shock" tower brace is almost useless

 

You've got to get under a 4th Gen and look at the suspension. The upper control arms are not bolted to the K-member, only the lower control arms.

All the vertical load for the lower control arm is transfered to the spring, and the upper spring seat is bolted, along with the upper A-arm mount directly into the shock tower, concentric with the shock mount. This is really not significantly different than the 3rd Gen strut type suspension, where the inner end of the lower arm is bolted to the chassis, and the entire vertical load is transferred by the strut into the center of the strut tower, and to the spring, which is not concentric with the shock.

I think the biggest difference between the 3rd and 4th Gens is in the design of the "tower"..... 4th Gen seems a bit more "integrated" into the cowl, and hence stiffer to begin with.

I like the comment about the "old person bathroom hand rail"..... as a certified "old person", I find it helps me maintain my balance under the hood I think its also useful on cars capable of pulling the front wheels.

 

Yeah, most people call them strut tower braces regardless but there are definitely quite a few car models out today that use shocks that still benefit greatly from a STB. Some even benefit so much that some of the models come factory equipped with an STB.

I know that the 4th gen is not one that greatly benefits, though...

 

I noticed a difference in mine. It's not a noticeably-overall suspension improvement, but rather it seems to improve the front end stability when taking sharp turns at high speeds.